


i kinda like you (but it's not that simple)

by transbuck



Series: pta dads au [1]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Parenthood, Pining, Single Parents, Slow Burn, pta dads au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 02:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18863791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transbuck/pseuds/transbuck
Summary: When Eddie Diaz, single dad and grief counselor extraordinaire, moves to California with his son, he’s certain that it’s too soon after his divorce for him to start thinking about dating. But then he meets another single dad who’s got gorgeous eyes, a kind smile, and a golden heart, and he thinks, well… maybe dating again isn’t such a bad idea after all.





	1. first day of school

**Author's Note:**

> it's here!!!! its here its here its here!!! pta dads au fic is finally here!!! :D this has been a very long time coming. for those of yall who follow me on tumblr (@diazbuckley!!), yall KNOW ive been hyping up this au for AGES. and im so excited to finally be posting it!!! i hope yall love this as much as i do!!!

The first thing Eddie does as soon as him and his son, Christopher, get settled into their new home in Los Angeles is put all of his degrees to good use by getting a job as a grief counselor. He’s known that that’s what he wants to do with his life since he was only nineteen and struggling to get used to civilian life again after a year spent overseas. After spending a few months speaking to a therapist about everything he had gone through in Afghanistan, he decided that he wanted to be able to help people like that, too.

So, nearly eleven years later, with a PhD, a seven year old son he loves more than life itself, and a shiny new LA home, Eddie finally gets his dream job as a grief counselor. He spends the whole summer getting used to his brand new job, and before he knows it, Christopher’s first day of second grade is rolling around.

Eddie always gets very nervous on the first day of school. He’s a bit of an overprotective parent in that regard, he thinks. He knows Christopher will be okay, he always insists as much, but Eddie’s always worried that something bad will happen during the school day and Christopher’s school will try to reach him while he’s in an appointment. He’s been making it a habit to keep his phone off during appointments to keep his full attention on his patients, and he can’t help but wonder, what if something bad happened to Christopher and he didn’t find out until it was too late? Eddie doesn’t think he’d be able to live with himself.

He’s got to get over those nerves, though, because soon enough, it’s early September and he’s got a seven-year-old pouncing on his chest before nine in the morning while yelling about how it’s the first day of school and how he  _ needs  _ to get up already!

“Oh, oof, good morning to you, too, Superman,” Eddie says as he sits up in bed, easily lifting Christopher up in his arms.

“Daddy, daddy, it’s the first day of school, get up!” Christopher exclaims, and only now does Eddie realize that he’s already completely dressed. He’s a little surprised at just how eager Christopher is. “Come on, get ready, we can’t be late!”

“Yeah, alright, I’m up, I’m up,” Eddie replies as he stands, the wiggling second grader still in his arms as he does so. As he sets Christopher down on the bed, he continues, “I’m gonna go shower real quick and get dressed, okay? Then I’m gonna make sure your lunch is in order, and then we’ll head out. Sound good?” Christopher smiles and gives Eddie an enthusiastic thumbs-up in reply. Eddie grins and ruffles his hair. “Alright!”

Eddie kind of rushes through the motions of showering and getting dressed. He picks out a soft, pale green sweater and his comfiest pair of jeans, something simple—it’s not like he has anyone to impress today. He’s only got a short schedule with only a couple different patients to see. He takes his sweet time on making sure Christopher’s lunch is in order, wanting to ensure him a special first day at his new school—he adds a cookie from the batch him and Christopher made together the other day and his usual cheesy napkin note alongside a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some assorted vegetables before calling it good.

The whole drive on the way to the school is occupied by Christopher yammering on about how excited he is about making new friends today. The excitement is infectious, and Eddie’s grateful that Christopher’s such an outgoing kid. He never has to worry about whether or not he’ll make any new friends. It’s just one less thing on his long, long list of things to be stressing out about.

Finally, the time comes to walk up to the classroom Christopher’s going to be spending his next nine months in. This is always the hardest part. The first goodbye of the school year. Eddie always cries. Every single time, no exceptions. He always gets so emotional, seeing his little boy growing up. Today’s even harder, he thinks, because not only is it Christopher’s first day of school, it’s also his first day of school in a brand new city. It’s all a little much for him, and before he knows it, while he’s kneeling down to hug Christopher goodbye, he bursts out into messy tears.

Christopher pulls away from the hug almost as soon as he feels tears start to stain his brand new t-shirt. “Daaaaad,” Christopher whines, grinning despite the annoyance in his voice. “You said you wouldn’t cry this time!”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” Eddie says as he sets his hands firmly on Christopher’s shoulders, giving them a little squeeze. “You’re just growing up so fast, and I can hardly keep up!” he exclaims through gentle, fond laughter. “Seems like just yesterday that you were learning how to talk, and now look at you! I’m just so proud of you, my little Superman.”

Christopher rolls his eyes a little. “You’re a nerd, Dad.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Eddie says with a grin, ruffling Christopher’s hair a little. “You have a good day today, okay? Have lots of fun. Make lots of friend. And tell me all about it when I get home. Okay?”

“Okay! Love you, Dad!” Christopher exclaims, letting Eddie pull him into another quick hug. When he pulls away, Eddie presses matching kisses to both of his cheeks, which only makes him giggly madly.

“Love you, too, kiddo,” Eddie replies as he stands up, blinking back tears. Out of the corner of his eyes, he catches a similar situation playing out a little ways away—he sees a man who, from behind, looks incredibly attractive, kneeling down on the ground in front of a curly-haired little girl. The man gives the girl, his daughter, most likely, kisses all over her face. Without realizing it, Eddie starts smiling at the image.

When Eddie looks back at Christopher, he’s being sent an odd, almost knowing look. Can he tell that Eddie’s already obsessed with the hot stranger despite only seeing his backside? Eddie hopes not, but kids sense these things sometimes. After half a moment, Christopher gives him an enthusiastic, “Bye!” before waving and walking off. Eddie waves right back, despite knowing that Christopher can’t see him.

Eddie’s so distracted by waving goodbye, in fact, that he doesn’t even notice it when the handsome stranger he had seen just a bit ago runs right into him. He stumbles back a little bit, both from the unexpected impact and from just how  _ strong  _ this man is. Eddie noticed how built he is from afar, but up close, it only makes him that much more drool-worthy. The man sets his hands on both of Eddie’s shoulders, presumably to steady both of them, and when Eddie looks up and catches his eye, he can feel his heart exploding in his chest and butterflies erupting in his stomach.

To say this man is handsome would be a bit of an understatement. He’s got the most gorgeous blue-gray eyes Eddie’s ever seen and the most adorable birthmark over his left eye, and that’s all just on the upper half of his face. Eddie’s almost afraid to look any further down because he really does  _ not  _ want to get aroused in the middle of his son’s elementary school.

“Sorry,” the handsome stranger says with a slow grin, and is Eddie imagining things, or did he just squeeze his shoulders? “Didn’t mean to run you over.” God, Eddie could easily listen to that voice all day.

“Um, it’s fine,” Eddie finally manages to get out after a brief moment of getting lost in fantasies of this handsome man talking to him low and sweetly, internally cringing at the way his voice cracks a little. The guy only smiles even wider and laughs quietly, which makes Eddie feel like he’s just won the greatest prize on Earth. Congratulations! You just made the hottest man you’ve ever seen in your entire life laugh at how awkward you are! He wants to say something suave and cool and interesting like, oh, he doesn’t know, maybe his name? But before he gets the chance to potentially embarrass himself in front of the handsome stranger some more, the guy’s removing his hands from his shoulders and rushing off like the building’s on fire. Eddie turns to watch him go with wide eyes, and he finds himself hoping that this isn’t the last he sees of the handsome stranger with the adorable birthmark.

Eddie decides with a slight grimace that maybe he should’ve dressed up a little more. His faithful sweater definitely did not leave a lasting impression on that stranger. He turns back around to see if he can catch a quick glimpse of Christopher, only to be met with a woman standing right in front of him. She’s just a little shorter than him with warm skin, freckles all over her face, and dark curly hair, and she also showed up out of seemingly nowhere and startles him so badly that he gasps.

“Oh! I’m sorry!” The woman says apologetically. “Didn’t mean to scare you. Sorry. You’re… You’re new here, aren’t you?”

“I’m sorry?” Eddie asks. Surprisingly, this isn’t the most confusing interaction he’s ever had.

“Wait, sorry, I should start over,” The woman replies quietly. She pauses, takes a deep breath, and plasters a wide, friendly grin onto her face as she holds her hand out. “Hi. I’m Eleanora Henderson.”

“Eddie Diaz,” Eddie replies almost hesitantly, taking the woman’s hand and shaking it firmly.

“You’re new to town, aren’t you?” Eleanora asks as she lets go of Eddie’s hand. “I didn’t recognize you.” Eddie frowns, gives her a slightly confused look. “Not- not that I recognize people from their backsides or anything! I just, um, saw you come in, and didn’t quite get a chance to introduce myself ‘til now.”

“Right. Um, yeah, I’m a little new in town, yes.”

“Well! In that case, welcome to LA! Where’re you and your kid from?” Eddie frowns a little, internally debating on how much information he should give to this stranger. She must sense his unease because she says, “Sorry, I promise I’m not some sorta weirdo who just waltzed in here to try and learn information about a bunch of strangers. I actually, um, run the PTA here.” She produces a little flyer out of her bag, hands it to Eddie. He skims it briefly, noting the simple and to-the-point font advertising the first PTA meeting of the year. “I always make it a point to personally invite new parents to this first meeting of the school year. You should totally come check it out! The first meeting of the year, we always go over stuff like initial volunteering opportunities, the different field trips and special activities our kids will be doing throughout the year. And we exchange phone numbers and emails and stuff, so all the parents can stay informed and involved and all that jazz.”

“I don’t know…” Eddie says, a little apprehensive about the whole situation. He’s really not a ‘large crowds’ kind of person, and the first PTA meeting of the year is bound to be full of parents. Parents who will probably ask him about his son. Parents who will definitely give him those pitying looks he hates so much when he reveals that Christopher has cerebral palsy.

“If it’s a matter of not being able to be there for the full time, don't worry about it,” Eleanora says with a wave of her hand. “Even if you’re only able to be there for a few minutes, that’ll leave you more informed than not being there at all. One of the parents on the PTA, he’s a firefighter, so he’s hardly ever able to be there for full meetings. Busy schedule, long shifts, all that. But he’s been as involved as he can be since his daughter started kindergarten, despite not being able to stay for the full time.”

Oh. Well. That’s a relief. Eddie likes to be able to accommodate his patients as best he can, and that means having a flexible schedule. He's still not entirely convinced on going, but he supposes it doesn't hurt to keep the flyer and mull it over. The flyer tells him that he has until tomorrow at five all the way to 6:30 in the evening to make a decision. “I will… Think about it.”

“Great!” Eleanora says, clasping her hands together. “I hope to see you there, Mr. Diaz. It was great to meet you.”

“It was, um, great to meet you too, Eleanora,” Eddie replies with a pleasant, albeit a bit forced smile. He waves politely as she walks past before looking back down at the flyer. Who knows, maybe Shannon will have some words of wisdom to impart on him. He'll have to remember to call her later today.

 

***

 

The day goes by a little slower than usual, but that’s mostly just because Eddie’s been counting down the seconds until all of his appointments are done for the day so he can go pick Christopher up from school at 3:30. When he’s going through his usual spiel of “that’s all the time we have today, will I see you the same time next week?”, he knows that it’s almost time to finally check on his boy. He practically books it out of the office after his last patient of the day leaves. The sooner he gets out of this building, the sooner he gets to the school, and the sooner he gets to the school, the sooner he gets to find out how Christopher’s day was.

Eddie parks in the school parking lot and makes it to the pickup center right as masses of elementary school-aged children exit the school in search of their parents. This part of the day always leaves him feeling a little nervous, but it’s a small price to pay to get to see Christopher before the bus would be dropping him off. He glances around, feeling a little anxious, but as soon as he sees that familiar curly mop of brown hair, the nerves slip away. He rushes toward his son, lifts him up in the air despite the boy’s half-hearted protests. “Hey, kiddo!” Eddie says, pressing a messy kiss to Christopher’s cheek.

Christopher groans and wipes his cheek before giving Eddie the brightest smile imaginable. “Hi, daddy! How was your day?”  The fact that Christopher cares to ask that makes Eddie feel so warm inside. He knows he doesn’t have the most exciting job in the world, but Christopher’s always so enthused about what he does.

“It was so good,” Eddie says, and it isn’t a total exaggeration. One of his newer patients has been making some pretty big strides and opened up a lot more than expected today, and Eddie can’t help but still feel really proud of the kid. “Why don’t you tell me all about your day when we get in the car, huh?”

“Okay!” Christopher replies happily as Eddie sets him down on the ground.

They walk side by side toward the parking lot, and when they make it to the car and Eddie’s putting Christopher’s car seat, he glances over and sees a curious image.

He sees the little girl from that morning, the daughter of the unfairly attractive stranger, being put into a carseat by a woman he doesn’t recognize. The woman looks more like the daughter than the man from that morning does, so Eddie figures that she must be the girl’s mother. Must be the wife, he thinks. It stings a little, but then again, what chance could he possibly have with that handsome stranger, even if he  _ was  _ single? Dating as a single parent is hard enough as is, but being a single parent and dating  _ another  _ single parent? Well, Eddie’s never been in that situation himself, but he’s sure it’s far more complicated than anything he could ever imagine.

As soon as they peel out of the school parking lot, Christopher starts yammering on about his day. It’s all a little too much for Eddie to be able to fully understand, and he’s talking at a speed at which only seven-year-olds seem to be able to comprehend, but Eddie knows this game. He knows when to laugh and he knows when to nod to make Christopher think he’s capable of paying attention to it all. There’s one thing Christopher says, though, that captures Eddie’s attention. It’s in the middle of his spiel about all the new friends he’s made today when he says, “And one of my new friends, her name is Allison, she says her daddy is a firefighter! Isn’t that cool? She says he saves people every single day!”

“Oh, really? That’s so cool, bud,” Eddie says, and this time, he means it. That must be the man that woman from earlier this morning was telling him about, the head of the PTA. Eleanora, he thinks her name was. It reminds him of how he had briefly considered becoming a firefighter after returning home from overseas, but the danger that was involved seemed to be a little too much for him. Christopher’s mom is around, of course, but Eddie never wanted to risk getting hurt in a way that would put a ton of stress on to Shannon.

“Yeah! And, and, she says that even though she doesn’t have a mommy, she’s got an auntie and an uncle who helps her daddy all the time,” Christopher continues enthusiastically. “Kinda like how Aunt Pepa helps you, huh?”

“Yeah, kind of, huh? I bet that’s nice, having her aunt and uncle around so much,” Eddie says, perhaps a little mindlessly. This mysterious firefighter dad sounds so interesting that he’s almost forgotten about the hot married dad from this morning. Almost.

Christopher starts babbling on about who knows what after that, back to the incomprehensible speed, and Eddie’s just glad that he had such a wonderful first day. Eddie had been so worried that something would go wrong, and he’s happy that he ended up not having anything to worry about. This time, at least.

Eventually, they’ve made it home, and Christopher gets himself set up at the kitchen table with a snack and some sort of getting-to-know-you activity he received from his teacher. It’s at that point that Eddie remembers the conversation he had that morning about checking out the first PTA meeting of the year, and he decides it’s about time he called Shannon to get her opinion on the situation.

“Hello?” Shannon asks once she answers the phone—just after the first ring, as usual. She’s such a supermom, always on top of everything. It’s one of the things Eddie still loves about her.

“Hey, Shan,” Eddie replies, leaning back on the kitchen counter.

“Hey, sorry, I wanted to be there when you guys got home to ask Chris about his first day, but I had to stay a little later. I just clocked out, actually,” Shannon explains, sounding a little apologetic.

“It’s fine. You’re still gonna come over to bring him to school tomorrow, right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Great. He’ll talk your ear off then,” Eddie says, smiling at the breathless laugh it pulls out of Shannon.

“That good, huh?” Shannon asks

“Oh, yeah, he was real enthusiastic,” Eddie continues, laughing a little himself. He pauses after that, trying to figure out how to broach the subject. “I didn’t call you to talk about Chris, though.”

“Oh? Is everything okay?” Shannon says, sounding a little worried.

“Yeah, everything’s great, I just wanted to get your opinion on something,” Eddie says as he pushes himself off the counter, pacing the kitchen a little as he tries to decide which words to use.

“What’s that?”

“So, um, I had a conversation this morning with, uh, the woman who runs the PTA,” Eddie says. “She, um, she said that the first PTA meeting of the year is tomorrow evening, and she said I should go. Said something about, uhh. Volunteering opportunities and about ‘staying informed’, or something like that? I don’t know, I’m kind of debating on going. It might be nice, to be involved with Christopher’s school, but I don’t know if I can—”

“Handle the mass amounts of parents with all those pitying stares?” Shannon offers, her crooked little smile audible in her voice.

Eddie sighs. She knows him so well. “Exactly.”

“I think you should go for it,” Shannon says after a careful moment. “I sporadically went to PTA meetings when we were still together, when you were so busy studying. It really made me feel like I actually had control over everything that was going on. And it was nice to be informed, nice to know about whatever volunteering opportunities were coming up so I could be involved so much, you know? I don’t know. I know you’re not that great with big crowds, but I think it’s a worth a shot. Did that woman say anything about how long the meetings are?”

“Um, yeah, the flyer she gave me said that it’s about an hour and a half long?” Eddie means to say it as a statement, but it comes out as more of a question. “But she said I didn’t have to be there for the whole time, if I couldn’t make it when the meeting starts or stay all the way ‘til the end.”

“Then go for it! You’ll be kicking yourself if you don’t, trust me,” Shannon replies. “I gotta go drive home now. We’ll talk some more later?”

“Yeah, sounds good, Shan.”

“Great. You really should go to that meeting, okay? You won’t regret it. I’ll even watch him so you can stay the whole time if you decide you want to. Alright?” Shannon says.

“Yeah, okay. Thanks, Shan. Drive safe,” Eddie says quietly.

“I will. Don’t forget to remind Chris that I’ll come see him in the morning. Bye, Eds,” Shannon continues.

“Bye,” Eddie murmurs, pulling his phone away from his ear after Shannon hangs up. He stares down at it for a moment as he considers his advice. Ultimately, he decides, why not? It can’t hurt to at least give it a chance. Who knows what could happen at the first PTA meeting of the school year?


	2. first pta meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeehaw yall! new chapter, les go! im sorry this chapter is coming so late after the first one, but school was kicking my ASS. fortunately, its summer break now, which (hopefully) means i'll be able to get lots and lots of work done on this fic! i hope this chapter was well worth the wait!  
> i actually changed my url on tumblr recently, so find me there @dylanharveys! now, enough talking, i hope you all enjoy the update!!

The next morning, Eddie wakes up with a nervous feeling in his stomach. He knows Shannon will be right about this PTA meeting being helpful for him, but he’s never been good with crowds. And if this meeting is as important as Eleanora said yesterday, then he’ll definitely be surrounded by more people than he’s used to. It’ll be worth it, though, he decides as he begins getting ready for the day. Mostly because he wants to be as informed and as involved as possible with Christopher’s new school, but also perhaps a little because he’s excited about maybe getting to meet the mysterious firefighter dad he’s been hearing so much about lately. But it’s mostly because he’ll be well-informed. No potentially interesting men are clouding his judgement at all.

Shannon shows up early that morning to pick Christopher up to bring him to school, and Eddie leaves for work not long after that. Thus begins a long, stressful, probably very anxiety-inducing day. Eddie keeps reminding himself throughout the day to do it for Christopher. He’s hoping the stress will be worth it in the end.

Before he knows it, his last appointment of the very long day is coming to a close. He checks his watch and sees that it's nearly five, meaning he's gotta hightail it out of the office as soon as his patient leaves. Part of him hopes his patient will keep yammering on past the end of their time together as she usually does so he has more time to mentally prepare himself for the meeting, but the week was particularly uneventful for her, so they finish right on time. As he goes through the usual end-of-appointment routine, he feels all the anxiety start to creep back into the forefront of his mind. He forces it away as he leaves his office, as he gets into his car, and as he drives to the school.

Soon enough, Eddie's in a classroom surrounded by nosy parents as some last minute meeting preparations are done. With all the questions about his son and all the pitying looks, Eddie's grateful that there's a snack table available. He thinks he's earned a cookie for forcing himself to do this. And having snacks in his mouth is a good excuse to not talk to anyone. He can hear Shannon's voice in his head yelling at him to cut the crap and try to make friends already. He ignores that voice and focuses on munching on some more cookies. He'll make up for all of the extra sweets when he finds time to go to the gym next.

After a few more minutes of awkward mingling and forcing himself to at least try to make some friends ( _ do it for Christopher! _ he tells himself), Eleanora calls everyone to attention from the front of the room. He's grateful for the slightly familiar face. He finds a seat toward the back of the room, and after a quick glance around the room, he's disappointed to not see the hot married dad from yesterday. Oh well, he thinks. He's still got the mysterious firefighter dad to look forward to. Wherever he may be.

The beginning of the meeting is, surprisingly, pretty engaging. Eddie can understand why Eleanora is the head of the PTA—she's good at public speaking and makes some pretty entertaining jokes that manage to capture his attention. He very quickly finds himself grateful that Shannon convinced him to head to this meeting.

About half an hour or so into the meeting, the door of the classroom suddenly bursts open. The room falls silent and everyone turns toward the source of the loud noise. There he is, in all his glory—hot married dad. And he looks even hotter today somehow in a tight short sleeved button-up that perfectly frames his shoulders. Eddie could swoon. And the apologetic look on his face? Eddie could stare at it all day, it’s that cute.

“Nice of you to join us, Buck,” Eleanora says teasingly from the front of the room, as if she's been in this situation about a thousand times before. Eddie wonders what kind of a name “Buck” is.

“I could go,” says hot married dad,  _ Buck _ . “I just got out of a rough, almost 36 hour shift. You're lucky Cap let me leave early. I could totally head home and take a nap, if you'd rather I leave.” He's got a very sassy smirk on his face that makes Eddie's heart beat a little faster in his chest. Why does this guy have to be so attractive?

“Sit down and shut up,” Eleanora replies, shifting through the papers in her hands as she speaks. Buck meanders over to the snack table and scoops up a cookie or two. Eleanora looks up from her papers and says, “Hey! Cookies are for people who are on time!” Buck looks up at her, slowly shoves a cookie into his mouth before picking up another one. Eddie can't help but laugh a little, vaguely feeling like a schoolgirl with a crush on the coolest boy in school. Buck finally heads over to the chairs, finding a spot in the seat right next to Eddie. If Eddie's face was on fire before, it only gets hotter when Buck spreads his legs out and bumps his knee against Eddie's. Eddie can hardly focus on the rest of the meeting because he can hardly look away from the knee that's pressed against his. Jesus, is he this starved for affection from someone other than his son that just the knee of a hot guy is driving him crazy?

The rest of the meeting passes by without incident. Eddie finds it difficult to pay attention to any of the information he's being given because this Buck guy is so much more attractive when he's still and not rushing out of the place like the building's on fire. Eddie can't help but catch a few glances of Buck's left hand, and he's delighted to see no ring on his finger. He can’t help but wonder who the woman he saw yesterday is, the one who picked up this Buck guy’s daughter from school. Maybe he’ll get the courage to ask him before he heads home.

Soon enough, Eleanora’s finishing the meeting with some closing remarks, and then there’s the sound of several chairs squeaking as everyone stands and begins mingling again. Eddie was afraid this would happen, that he’d be expected to talk to people all over again, and the thought leaves him feeling a little anxious. He lets himself sit for a while, trying to gather up the courage to stand and allow himself to talk to people, when he feels the knee against his shifting. He spares a glance to his right only to see Buck staring right at him, resting with his elbows on his knees.

“You’re new,” Buck says, and Eddie almost forgot how wonderful his voice is. Warm and comforting, and maybe Eddie’s just waxing poetic, but it kind of reminds him of honey. “I’ve never seen you at the meetings before.”

“Well, um, this is my first year living in LA, so…” Eddie trails off, internally cursing himself for sounding so awkward. He’s never been good at sounding at least semi normal around attractive people.

“Aw, no way!” Buck says excitedly as he sits up. “Well, welcome to California. Where’d you come from?”

“Texas,” Eddie answers, the first thing he’s been confident about around this guy.

“Nice,” Buck says, smiling and nodding to himself. After a moment, he holds his hand out. “Evan Buckley. Sorry about bumping into you yesterday, by the way.”

Eddie blinks a little in surprise as he takes Buck’s—Evan?— hand and shakes it. He’s surprised a hunk like this would remember a face like his. He’s also surprised that all the muscles aren’t just for show. This guy has a  _ very  _ strong grip. “Um, Eddie Diaz. You remember me?”

“‘Course I remember you,” Buck says with a grin as he lets go of Eddie’s hand. “I try to remember all the pretty faces I run into.” He laughs as Eddie blushes furiously and sputters awkwardly, trying to figure out how the hell to respond to that. “Sorry. Couldn’t resist.”

“I— right,” Eddie says, clearing his throat and averting his eyes a little. Way to make a good official first impression, Diaz. “I’m sorry, uh, I’m a little confused, ‘cause, um, Eleanora called you—”

“Buck?” Buck-or-maybe-Evan asks, tilting his head a little with a slowly widening smile. “Yeah, Evan’s my actual name, but everyone just calls me Buck.”

“Oh! Oh, that makes a lot of sense actually,” Eddie replies, rubbing the back of his neck and feeling a little foolish right about now. He feels like he’s embarrassing himself in front of this guy, but Buck seems to not be entirely annoyed with him right about now, so Eddie considers that to be a small win.

“So, Eddie,” Buck says after a moment, eyes narrowing as he studies Eddie carefully in a way that makes Eddie shift almost uncomfortably in his seat. “What is it that you do? For work, I mean.”

Ah, small talk. Eddie’s worst enemy. He’s never been very good at it, and he always feels stupid doing it, not to mention it just makes him feel plain uncomfortable. But if this hot guy with the kind eyes and the smile that sends Eddie’s mind reeling wants to do small talk, then small talk they shall do. “I’m a, um, a grief counselor,” Eddie finally says, vaguely feeling himself blush a little because he can hear how awkward he sounds, but he’s smiling regardless because out of all the small talk topics that are out there, he rather enjoys talking about his job. It’s his second favorite thing to talk about, right after his son (so long as he’s talking about his son to people who won’t do the whole “I’m so sorry, that must be difficult” routine).

Buck squints a little more in a way that makes Eddie feel even more uncomfortable. “What, so you’re like a therapist or something?”

“Yeah, actually!” Eddie responds, lighting up a little. There’s a little voice in the back of his mind that’s telling him to dial it back, but he hardly ever gets to talk about his job, and it really is his passion. He knows it’s not the coolest career in the world, but he loves it, and he jumps at any chance to talk about it.

Though Eddie gets the sneaking suspicion that maybe talking about his job to Buck is a no-go, if the way Buck tenses up momentarily and frowns slightly is any indication. “Oh,” he says, mostly to himself, probably.

“Is… there a problem?”

“No, just…” Buck frowns even more as he trails off. “I just have some bad memories associated with therapists, is all. Not your fault.” He smiles, though it comes out a little forced, raising an arm to cough into his fist.

“I’m sorry,” Eddie says carefully, brows furrowing a little in concern. The curiosity eats at him, and the desire to ask what happened with Buck and a therapist to give him such a concerning reaction to hearing his career is almost overwhelming, but he decides that maybe asking about that when this is the first time they’ve ever met is… Perhaps not a very good idea.

Buck shakes his head to himself, seeming to shake off whatever was his plaguing his mind as well because, just like that, he’s back to smiling broadly. He waves his hand dismissively and says, “No biggie. Like I said, not your fault.”

“Right,” Eddie says, eyeing Buck curiously. This guy sure has a bit of mystery to him, and Eddie would very much like to be given the time and ability to figure him out. “Anyway. Um. What do you do for work?”

“I’m a member of LA’s finest,” Buck replies with a wide, infectious grin. At Eddie’s confused head tilt, he elaborates by saying, “I’m a firefighter. Station 118 all the way, baby!”

Eddie blinks in surprise, feeling his cheeks flush at all the information he’s just been given. So  _ this  _ is Mysterious Firefighter Dad. And he’s far more attractive than Eddie ever could have imagined. Deep down, Eddie’s fully aware that the whole ‘baby’ thing was just for a joke, or… Something. It wasn’t serious, that’s all Eddie’s certain about, but something about it still leaves his mind reeling and sends a flurry of furious butterflies into his stomach. The thought of Buck calling him baby on purpose is making his heart beat a little faster in his chest. It takes Eddie another second or so, but he puts two and two together—he suddenly remembers the conversation he had with Christopher in the car yesterday about his new friend and her firefighter dad. “Oh! You’re— you’re Allison’s dad!” At the confused look Buck gives him, Eddie shakes his head before elaborating. “My son, Christopher, he was telling me yesterday about how he made a new friend, Allison, and that she was telling him about her firefighter dad.”

“Oh! Christopher!” Buck exclaims after a moment, snapping his fingers as he seems to brighten even further—something Eddie didn’t think possible, since Buck’s already so radiant as is. “Yeah, my sister was telling me about what Al talked to her about after school yesterday, and she told me that Al was just going on and on about a Christopher Diaz.”

“Your… Sister?” Eddie asks.

“Yeah, um…” Buck trails off a little, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “My sister has to pick up Allison sometimes from school ‘cause, y’know, crazy firefighter schedule. And of course it was just my luck that I had to work a long shift yesterday so I couldn’t pick her up from her first day.”

_ Oh, _ Eddie thinks.  _ That explains who the woman who picked Allison up yesterday was. _ There’s a tiny little voice in the back of his head that he recognizes to be the hopeless romantic part of himself that tells him he has a  _ chance  _ with Buck. It’s a tiny sliver of a chance because, for all he knows, Buck could be completely straight, but at least Eddie can fantasize about a world where he has the courage to make a move on Buck that actually goes well. “Well, um, I just wanted to thank you,” Eddie says hesitantly after a moment.

“Thank me?”

“Yeah! I mean, Chris usually kind of struggles to make really good friends on the first day of school, but he’s really latched onto Allison. And… I don’t know. Just. Thank you for having a kid that makes Chris feel so comfortable and happy,” Eddie explains, feeling more and more lame as he speaks.

But then Buck’s breaking out into a wide grin that makes Eddie’s heart feel warm. “Well, I’m glad Al’s making Christopher feel so welcomed and comfortable.”

“Yeah,” Eddie says, smiling a bit shyly, eyes studying Buck’s face curiously. He’s even more beautiful than he was yesterday, Eddie thinks hazily. Before he can think too much more about how gorgeous this man is, the man himself is saying something else.

“Hey, maybe we should exchange numbers,” Buck says. “I’m sure Allison and Chris would love to have a play date or something sometime.”

“Oh—”

“And maybe I’d like to get to know you a little better.” Buck says the last part perhaps a bit hurriedly as he averts his eyes slightly, and Eddie swears he can see the faintest of blushes dusting his cheeks and ears.  _ Cute _ .

“I, um. I would like that a lot, actually,” Eddie says after a moment, his face feeling like it’s caught on fire. “I mean, Chris would love to have a play date, but, um. I’d also like to get to know you, too.”

“Cool.”

“Here,” Eddie says, pulling his phone out of his pocket and quickly unlocking it and navigating to the contacts page before handing it over to Buck. He watches expectantly as Buck quickly puts his name and number into a new contact before handing it back over to Eddie. “Great. I’ll text you.”

“Great. Sounds great,” Buck says, grinning as he glances down at the watch on his wrist. He grimaces a little as he looks at the time before standing up. “I should get going.” He moves so he’s standing directly in front of Eddie, so close that he’s almost standing between Eddie’s spread legs, before holding his hand out. “It was great to meet you, Eddie.”

“It was great to meet you, too, Buck,” Eddie says, taking Buck’s hand and shaking it, ignoring the furious flapping of butterfly wings in his stomach.

“Don’t forget to text me,” Buck says, a smile on his face that could only be described as teasing as he slowly makes his way over towards the door. He waves over his shoulder before opening the door and leaving the room.

Eddie lets out a breath, looking down at his phone and finally seeing the new contact information. The heart eyes emoji Buck added after his name should  _ not  _ be making Eddie’s heart do so many somersaults, but it  _ is _ . He bites his lip as he sends a quick text to Buck, a simple “Hey, this is Eddie,” and when Buck responds with an enthusiastic “Hi!” and a “:D” face, Eddie can feel his heart bursting out of his chest. This is the start of something very special, Eddie can just tell. He’s sure once he gets to know Buck, he’ll start calming down and his stomach will stop churning every time Buck so much as smiles at him, and honestly? Eddie’s just excited to have made his first friend since moving to California.


End file.
